1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a print technique using a printer having a plurality of print mechanisms.
2. Description of the Related Art
A digital camera or other recording/playback apparatus can be directly connected, or integrated, to a printer to print a recorded image.
As discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-118174, a hybrid printer possesses plural print mechanisms (e.g., a color print mechanism and a monochrome print mechanism). The hybrid printer can automatically identify a monochrome page and a color page and perform a print operation by selectively using an optimum print mechanism for the print of each page.
However, the conventional digital cameras or other print control devices do not allow users to arbitrarily select a desired print mechanism. Users cannot select a proper print mechanism corresponding to requested print conditions.
For example, to print a recorded image, a camera may be connected to a hybrid printer having plural printer units. In this case, the hybrid printer identifies the type of print data (i.e., monochrome or color), and automatically determines a printer unit to be used. Therefore, a user of the camera cannot designate an intended printer unit to be used for a print operation.
In this manner, irrespective of the type of data to be printed, the conventional systems do not allow users to designate a printer unit of the hybrid printer. As a result, usability of the hybrid printer is not good.
More specifically, consumable materials including print papers and inks (toners) cannot be consistently used and accordingly management of the consumable materials is difficult. Moreover, predicting an output result is difficult. The print operation may not start smoothly if the action state of each printer unit of the hybrid printer is not proper.
Additionally, obtaining a desired print result is difficult. A selected printer may not correspond to the format of print data. The output results may not be compared in the same printer.